A collection of short stories, articles, and poems intended to entertain, inform, and consider.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

WE GAVE UP TIM HORTON'S

“Hello, welcome to Tim Horton’s, would you like to try our Dark Roast coffee?” “She’s sounds half-asleep,” I whisper to my partner.“No, thank you, I will have a large regular coffee two cream one sweetener, please,” my partner says to the order box then drives on up the drive-thru.I hand him correct change.“You’re twenty cents short, sir.” He looks at me, “Did it go up again?”I shrug my shoulders and reach for more change.He turns to the cashier and asks her the same question.“Yes, price of coffee went up again, something to do with a drought in Brazil.”I give him the extra coin, the exchange is made, and we are on our way. “Geez, if the price keeps going up I’m gonna have to start making my coffee at home.”“Tell me about,” I say. “Didn’t it just go up in the spring?”“Yah, I think you’re right.”He starts talking about work and his team and about how great they are being with all the new changes happening. I’m still thinking about the price of coffee.“What’s up with this new Dark Roast coffee?” I say. “It sounds suspicious. I bet you any money that with Tim’s being bought out by Burger King that they are gonna change their supplier, change their coffee. That’s what it’s about. Every time a company makes a change it’s for the cheaper crap.”He considers this. “Maybe,” he says.“Hey, you know what?” I say. “Yah.” “We should buy one of those Keurig one-cup coffee makers. I saw it in the Walmart flyer yesterday. They are on sale for $58. Want to?”He considers the suggestion. “Well, the price of coffee is climbing steadily, and with the drought, competition from Starbucks and MacDonald’s, it’s probably going to go up again in the new year. Okay, yah, sounds like an idea, it’s time to give up. And if you can do it, so can I.” He looks at me and gives me a nod of approval.“Well, I guess developing gastritis will make anyone quit. I always told you that Tim’s coffee was gonna rot my gut.” He pulls into his workplace parking lot and gets out. I get out and give him a hug-n-kiss and climb into the driver’s seat. “When you pick me up later we’ll go together.”“Okay, have a great day.”I drive home and get on with my day. I pick him up later and we go to Walmart. The Keurig machines are still on sale. He picks one off the shelf and we check out the different flavors and brands of coffee K-cups that are also on sale. They also have decaf, tea, and hot chocolate. He chooses a light blend from Folgers and I choose a stronger blend from Timothy’s. We are so proud that we have become Tim Horton’s free. We pay for our purchase and take our new friend home.

It’s so easy to use. You put a cup of water in the top, turn on the power, flip the filter lever, pop in a K-cup, close, and press the brew button. In less than two minutes a pleasing aromatic smell fills the kitchen. My partner is calculating the price of each K-cup and finds that it is indeed cheaper and when he tastes the coffee he is converted. It smells so good that I decide to try a cup of the light blend and it so happens that, despite my gastritis, it does not hurt my stomach. “Delicious,” he says.“I know,” I say.Our son comes out of the bedroom. “What’s going on? What are you guys eating? What’s all the fuss about?” He sees the machine and smells the coffee. “You guys are crazy, all that fuss for coffee?” He stomps back to his room, shaking his head. We laugh. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’ll be joining us one day.